31 January. Jolly news for these snowy times - Rebellion are to release a 48-page Cor! & Buster Special on 17 April, featuring characters including Sweeney Toddler and Gums, drawn by the likes of Ned Hartley, Cavan Scott, Abigail Bulmer and Tanya Roberts. This will be followed by a reprint for Free Comic Book Day (4 May) entitled Funny Pages, featuring reprints from the archive.

29 October. Judge Dredd Megazine will include a bagged tribute to the late Carlos Ezquerra. "Carlos' death was a profound shock, not just to everyone at 2000AD but also to his fans across the world," says editor Matt Smith. "This small collection of his stories shows not just his evolution as an artist but also a sense of his incredibly consistent quality over more than four decades."

More recommended recent releases

Donate via PayPal

BEAR ALLEY BOOKS

Click on the above pic to visit our sister site Bear Alley Books

Monday, July 11, 2016

Graeme Cook

Graeme Cook’s career in comics may have lasted only a matter of a few years. A former editor at D. C. Thomson, he was recruited fresh from Dundee by George Beal to take over from Keith Chapman as editor on various annuals at Odhams in 1967. Chapman, who had joined Odhams from Micron three years earlier, recalls: “He was a good bloke, full of stories about the penny-pinching ways of the canny Scottish family firm told in a broad accent. My co-workers at Odhams were most amused and incredulous, but with memories of the mean streets of Mitcham still with me, I could well believe everything he said about the independent, non-union firm.”

Cook, who joined around March 1967, was handed the reins of a range of annuals, including Boys’ World Annual 1969 and the Daily Mirror Book for Boys, for which he also wrote features about aircraft. In early 1971 he wrote a handful of features for Countdown.

Cook spent most of the 1970s writing non-fiction books for boys, mostly air and sea adventures. Titles included Spotlight on Aircraft for Hamlyn, the Air Adventures and Sea Adventures series for Macdonald, the Weird and Wonderful Aircraft and Weird and Wonderful Ships for World Distributors and a variety of titles for Hart-Davis MacGibbon, including Wings of Glory, None But the Valiant, Commandos in Action, Break Out, Survival Against the Odds, Missions Most Secret, Silent Marauders, The Single-Handers, Small Boat Raiders and Rescue.

It is thought that Cook lived in Ireland during the 1980s where he met and married theatre and TV actress Fidelma O’Dowda.

In around 1990 they moved to Kirriemuir in Scotland and set up Scotpress Publications Ltd. in 1990, publishing Discovering Kirrie and the Glens. Scotpress also published Angus Business Profile which made headlines locally when it was announced in September 1992 that Cook, having seen footage of starving Somali children on television, donated the profits from the sales of the book to help save the children

With his wife, he set up Parkmill Publishing Ltd. in 1995, which published the quarterly University of Dundee News form 1996.

Cook, aged 59, died of multiple injuries on Sunday, 25 April 1999. At 5:10 in the afternoon, Dr Elizabeth Crabbie, who had a blood-alcohol concentration of 249—three times the blood alcohol limit of 80mg per 100ml of blood—failed to negotiate a bend as she drove erratically downhill on the A94 near Balbeggie, crossing onto the wrong side of the road in her Subaru and ploughed into Cook’s Peugeot. Fidelma Cook suffered a fractured collarbone and breastbone and their 12-year-old son, Lorcan, suffered cuts and bruises.

In April 2000, after admitting causing Cook’s death at the High Court in Edinburgh, Dr Crabbie was jailed for five years and banned from driving for ten years, the sentence upheld even after an appeal. Released in 2002, Dr Crabbie settled a claim for substantial damages out of court; she was banned for a further nine years in 2015 after being caught drink-driving again.

Cook’s final book was published shortly after his death. Warlock: The Curse of the Black Baron was written with the aid of children from the local Southmuir Primary School who, over a six-week period, aided in the development of characters and creating the storyline. One of the 24 pupils, Nadia Kouhi, later commented: “Together, along with the rest of my classmates, we created this adventure story jam packed with mystery and fantasy. Take my word for it—it’s got to be what a child likes if it’s the children who came up with many of the ideas!”

The novel concerned the adventures of two children, Annie Thomson and Jamie McLeod, who battle the evil Baron von Blitz in a remote Scottish glen during the Second World War. The book was reissued on the Kindle in January 2016 by Fidelma, who later worked for Angus Council developing youth work opportunities in the community, and Lorcan.

AVAILABLE NOW!Forgotten Authors Vol.1Click here for details and payment options"This is utterly fascinating: what a terrific accomplishment! It has held and engaged me. Authors who are only names have been documented and recorded, from the pathetic to the successful, and everywhere in between. This is incredible research, and I cannot begin to thank you enough for sharing it. I’m dipping into it with absolutely enormous pleasure."—Richard Bleiler"Recommended for anyone with an interest in the history of books, book publishing, obscure authors or even researching family history. Looking forward to Volume 2"—Amazon review.

AVAILABLE NOW!The Men Behind Flying Saucer ReviewClick here for details and payment options"Beginning in 1955, the Flying Saucer Review has been key to chronicling the appearance of Unidentified Flying Objects and the latest theories of why they have been appearing in our skies. A dedicated group of enthusiasts - amongst them an accountant, a publisher's editor, a test pilot, a novelist and a member of the House of Lords - were amongst those who helped put together this remarkable magazine. Who they were and how they came to work together makes for a fascinating tale, some of it as curious as the phenomena the magazine studied."

AVAILABLE NOW!Countdown to TV ActionClick here for details and payment options."The perfect compliment to my set of Countdown/TV Action" - Graham Bleathman."A wonderful trip down memory lane. Recommended" - Paul Simpson, Sci-Fi Bulletin"If you read Countdown as a child, you'll be fascinated by this account of its making ... indispensable." - John Freeman, Down the Tubes"The definitive history of the title" - Lew Stringer, Blimey!"I urge you to grab a copy and give Steve Holland a tip of the hat for the amount of hard work, research and love he's poured into making a book of information become an interesting story" - Barnaby Eaton-Jones, The Cult Den

Lion King of Picture Story PapersClick here to order"It's a great read in itself and has sent me back to the Lion comic to re-read some of my childhood favourites. The pictures are reproduced crystal clearly and even this old man can read the original art ... It's a gorgeous book and if we are snow-bound as the media has been saying for weeks, I have plenty to keep me amused this chilly January weekend!" - Norman Boyd.

Sexton Blake Annual 1941Click here to order"If you've been meaning to give Sexton Blake's adventures a try, this would be a great place to start. I've seen the actual annuals go on Ebay for three or four hundred bucks, so this is definitely a bargain too." - Singular Points.

Peter Jackson's London Is Stranger Than FictionClick here to order"The original books have been highly collectable for many years now, but finally they’ve been republished in a single volume from Bear Alley Books ... for the ridiculously reasonable price of £14.99. Do yourself a favour. " Christopher Fowler.

OUT OF PRINT!ArenaClick here for details and payment options"This book goes straight to the top of my large reading pile" - Graeme Neil Reid"With reality TV overload and the rise of the risque and the brutality of today’s society, this story still has a pertinent message for those of us who are willing to listen to it. In fact, I think the story is more relevant today than it was in 1979." - Colin Noble, Down the Tubes"The story is a fun read, but the star of the show is the art. Alcatena is a class act." - Hibernia Comics